First Time's the Charm

I thought this smoker was great right out of the box. For my trial run, I smoked an 8lb chicken and a 7lb butt. Like the other reviewer, I use a charcoal chimney. I started with one chimney and had trouble getting up to temp until I added the second chimney, after that, maintaing temperature was as easy as adding 10 hot coals every half-hour. As for wood, I added three large chunks in the beginning and 3 more chunks at the beginning of hour 3. As for the standard temp gauge, just put an oven thermometer in the smoker the first time or two you use it and you'll learn where the sweet spot is on the outside gauge.

Since I was going to be smoking for 10 hours, I grabbed the fire pan with pliers and gave it a good shake every 2 hours - this really helped the air flow. To add water to the pan, I recommend using a funnell with a plastic tube, this kept me from spilling some water down on the coals.

Everything came off moist and tender right on schedule for dinner. This smoker is super easy to use with no modifications.